Browns Plainly Blog

Complete list of Cleveland Browns books

Football seasons come and go, but good books endure. Below is the most comprehensive bibliography anywhere focused on the Cleveland Browns — journalism, memoir, history, biography, photography, reference and more — even true crime and fiction. (Media guides, yearbooks, and books for juvenile readers are not included). These 88 titles are sorted by year of publication.

I’ve added my own brief commentary in places, but do click the Amazon links to learn more. From there you can add to your own library or to that of a fellow Browns fan (and help this blog in the meantime). Whether it’s a fresh title or one long out-of-print and overlooked, a Browns book is sure to be a more enduring gift than a Tim Couch or Trent Richardson jersey.

I try to keep this page updated, so please send along your tips on upcoming titles, recommendations, feedback, and corrections.

Classic Browns: The 50 Greatest Games in Cleveland Browns History by Jonathan Knight, 2008. Recommended: Each chapter is a tidy narrative package, colored with quotes culled from players, coaches and scribes. Knight’s prose shows an appreciation for the impact Browns football has on the fans, yet it is mature enough to avoid mawkishness, hyperbole or geeky displays of minutia.

One Moment Changes Everything: The All-America Tragedy of Don Rogers by Sean D. Harvey, 2007. Recommended: A compelling microcosm of some of the best and worst aspects of American life emerges in this careful and caring chronicle of the Rogers family, whose provider and protector, the star Browns safety, died on the eve of his wedding of a cocaine overdose.

Playing For Pizza: A Novel by John Grisham, 2007. The protagonist is a Browns backup quarterback who utterly implodes in the playoffs, necessitating his escape to a league in Italy, where most of the action occurs. Plays on the cliché of the Browns as hapless bridesmaids with insanely vengeful fans.Jim Brown: The Fierce Life of an American Hero by Mike Freeman, 2006

Sundays in the Pound: The Heroics and Heartbreak of the 1985-89 Cleveland Browns by Jonathan Knight, 2006. Highly recommended: Knight is among the more prolific Browns authors, and this detailed retelling of a fondly-remembered era is an interesting narrative through which to revisit names and games that may have blurred with time. Knight’s books invariably reflect quality research and rely on primary sources.

False Start: How The New Browns Were Set Up To Fail by Terry Pluto, 2004. Recommended: This quick read is well worth the time of any fan who still needs some intellectual and emotional support for having endured the reborn team’s largely wretched performance.

OttoMatic by Duey Graham, 2004. An uneven but interesting work partially redeemed by the format of frequently handing off the first-person voice among Otto, his son Duey, his wife Bev, and various others.

Brown’s Town: 20 Famous Browns Talk Amongst Themselves by Alan Natali, 2001. Highly recommended: The most absorbing book featuring the words of ex-Browns, this 572-page chronicle serves as a biography of sorts of the legendary coach, but it far transcends that. Easily the best prose stylist among all Browns book authors, Natali lets the players speak for themselves naturally through smooth editing, set up with excellent biographical essays.

First and Last Seasons: A Father, A Son, and Sunday Afternoon Football by Dan McGraw, 2000. Recommended: Memoir of a magazine editor who take a leave of absence to cover the reborn Browns’ first season back in his hometown of Cleveland, where his father is soon diagnosed with terminal cancer. Both witty and gritty, it speaks to the bond that football provides in the emotional life of men.

On Being Brown: What It Means to Be a Cleveland Browns Fan by Scott Huler, 1999. Highly recommended: A charming collection of short essays and interviews with fans and former players (Sipe, Graham, Warfield, Sherk, Kosar, even Mike Phipps among them), connecting one with the other, and reader and author, by dipping into pooled emotional essence.

The Cleveland Browns: The Great Tradition by Bob Moon, 1999. Highly recommended: An excellent overall combination of text and images, this handsome and highly readable history qualifies as an heirloom book.

The Best of the Cleveland Browns Memories by Russell Schneider, 1999. Recommended: The former Plain Dealer sportswriter turns in a workmanlike effort in a satisfyingly substantial set of stories and profiles.

When All the World Was Browns Town by Terry Pluto, 1997. Highly recommended: This story of the 1964 championship team and season hit the market when Cleveland most needed to be reminded of its football glory. The veteran sports columnist and author, now with the Plain Dealer, is at his casual but authoritative best.

Day By Day in Cleveland Browns History by Morris Eckhouse, 1984. Recommended: Long out-of-print, but uniquely handy. For one thing, it contains detailed descriptions of every Browns trade made from 1947 through 1984.

PB: The Paul Brown Story by Paul Brown and Jack Clary, 1979. Recommended. As fascinating as it is self-serving, this autobiography is a key piece of puzzle in understanding the man who professionalized what would become America’s foremost spectator sport.

Off My Chest by Jimmy Brown with Myron Cope, 1964. Recommended: The legendary runner’s first memoir provides insight into a complex personality, whose story was crafted with the help of the man who became the distinctive longtime radio voice of the Steelers.

T Quarterback by Otto Graham, 1953. Though ghost-written in actuality, this first-ever Browns-related book details the duties of the position Graham revolutionized during the Browns’ dynastic era. The action photo section is interesting, but this one’s really for hard-core collectors or coaching types.

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Browns Plainly gives you the most comprehensive, no-nonsense coverage of the Cleveland Browns, from all the best sources on the web. All in one place. Dave Algase, author of Brown for the Count, provides expert analysis and is a lifelong fan of the team. Dave's unique perspective of the team will provide insights you won't find anywhere else.